Here's mine... finally! Marcelyn and Jill are right – this tune moves all over the fingerboard. Played here on my brand new National RN1 mandolin after untold attempts.
Nice one, Michael, and janey mack your National is LOUD - I had to turn the volume way done on the 'oul laptop from the very first note! Would definitely be a "banjo-killer" at any session I reckon!
Jill: words can't really describe how loud this thing is! Next friday is our annual Christmas picking party and there'll be banjos there ... I'll let you know what happens! Don't expect to have any trouble getting my breaks heard, even when the banjo "forgets" to back off.
Oooo, that National was definitely worth the wait, as was your stellar version of Gurteen. I love it. Hope you plan to make lots of videos with it.
A lovely looking instrument Michael and a great version. Than you Barbara for the information on triplets. The Mctwist is an interesting concept but I imagine co-ordinating the thumb and wrist movements is going to involve an awful lot of practice. So in the meantime here is my attempt played on a Savannah without any triplets.http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/at...5&d=1292235596
One comment about the McTwist - Mike Keyes did write a column for the Mel Bay Banjo Sessions where he mentions that he was focusing on playing more triplets "from the wrist" and not incorporating as much use of the "McTwist" technique anymore, I think inspired by a workshop he took with Darren Moloney. I've never used the McTwist meself, simply because I've never really understood how to do it....
I like the expressiveness of that new axe Michael. I can tell you were actually holding the volume in check, like keeping a tight rein on spirited horse!
Michael congrats on the new mando. It sounds great. It'll sound really good on some old blues. It's so much fun to get what you want for Christmas. Maudlin. You had toes a tappin. nice job by all. Gary
Jill, of the triplet demos that I've watched, Roger Landes', that Mike Keyes links to on his page, is the one that works for me! I've been working on this tune (while we get our first real blizzard of the winter). I think, when playing jigs, that FIRST you should get a firm feel of the tune, and how it's picked (you know me, firmly believing in DUD DUD), without ornamentation. Then, you need to have a firm grasp on just what a triplet ornamentation is (3 notes, where 2 would normally be played), and then know just what it is, in the tune, that you are replacing the two notes with 3. When ornamenting jigs, at least where I usually insert a triplet, it gets tricky, as I am usually replacing the last 2 notes of the DUD (which would be UD without ornamentation), and turning it into DUD, making that part DDUD. I pick the jig one way, and I pick the triplet (very quickly) using a slightly different technique, so I have to concentrate on keeping the strong DUD DUD picking rhythm going, and getting that triplet in just the right place, AND get right back to the DUD DUD picking.... I don't really twist, I just make an effort for the pick motion to stop and immediately go back up, rather than having as much 'follow trough' on the normal Down pick motion.
Michael, nice playing and congrats on the new acquisition, it really does sound amazingly loud, which for a mando is a good thing.
Another great tune and a great thread. Loads of variations in playing and arrangements and all offering something of their own. Here is my try on mandolin with guitar backing. As many of you say, a tricky wee tune to get the fingers round and it took me some time to get close to the triplets in part B.
Nicely done John.
great stuff there, John!
I like it!
That was very nice John. That's as close to a pub and pint I'm going to find this Friday night. Gary
Thanks, folks. Encouragement much appreciated.
Wow, very pretty playing, John!
Michael, forgot to say, that National is quite a formidable weapon and could be lethal in the wrong hands. Would be a great session instrument and certainly could hold its own. Do you record the tunes first on DAW or whatever, then play along to them while recording the video clips? Just the headphones made me wonder! I do this but play back through my monitor speakers rather than hedphones and this gives me a good track which has the live audio plaus the pre-recorded mp3 and this helps me with synchronising the audio and video.
John, thanks! While we're talking about some formidable weapons I'll just point out your mandolins. Very impressive. As for the video -- I just forgot to take the earphones off when I was recording the mandolin to my digital stand alone recorder this time. (And I was also recording the video at the same time on my digital camera.) The camera's built in sound is later used to match up the recording of the mandolin from the stand alone recorder to the video when assembling the final movie in iMovie. (Eventually I just delete the camera's sound and only use the recorded sound which is much better.) The video and the recorded sound match up nearly perfectly because they were recorded at the same time. So I'm not really listening to the guitar in the earphones in the video but my mandolin played through the mic as it was recording. I just forgot to take them off because the new mandolin sounded so good! I usually add the guitar after I've recorded the mandolin track. It just seems more realistic to me to do it this way -- and when I'm playing the guitar I'm really backing up the mandolin because it's been recorded already and I'm just following it. Sometimes I'll add another video of the guitar backup, like in my Crested Hens video. (That time I was wearing the earphones to hear the mandolin track recorded earlier.) This YouTube movie thing is new to me, but I've been doing recordings in my home studio for years. Now I just video them at the same time! Thanks for asking!
Glad to hear that you do your recording/filming very much as I do mine, Michael. I too add the backing after I have recorded the melody, and in fact this sometimes makes me go back to have another crack at the melody when I notice that I have messed up on the timing in, say, a jig - the chords do not quite come in as they should at the end of a section because of a held note or a missed beat. I too am fairly new to the whole YouTube phenomenon but have really enjoyed doing the clips for it as I am sure it does make me try that bit harder to get things as accurate as I can when those wee videos are going out to the world at large (or the few hardy souls who click on the tunes and give them a listen!) It's what I love about the Song-A-Week Group - that and the friendly banter that goes on; we seem all to have become friends in a way yet we never meet.
going back a bit for this lovely gig
